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Pakistani Ghazal Queen Farida Khanum will perform in Chennai for the first time
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Farida Khanum will perform on November 10, 7.15 p.m. at The Music Academy
Farida Khanum's life and musical sadhana, as she describes it, is reminiscent of the legend of Tansen. The musical genius of the 16th Century, so goes the story, was deliberately separated from his village sweetheart by Emperor Akbar, at whose court he was a prized jewel. The emperor's justification for this injunction was that the pain of unfulfilled love would translate into exquisite music. Whether Tansen would have made his seminal contribution to the development of Hindustani music even without this punishment can be debated, but it seems certain, from the account of `Ghazal Queen' Farida Khanum, that, had Partition not made her into a Pakistani citizen, she would have been not a ghazal and thumri exponent but a classical singer of the likes of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and other greats with whom she shared a guru, Ustad Ashiq Ali Khan. But if fate separated her from the land of her birth, it gave her a place in the hearts of ghazal fans across the world, who extol her for the varied emotions and magnetic quality of her voice.
Born in Kolkata (then Calcutta) and brought up in Amritsar, she learnt Khyal as well as light music from her sister Mukhtar Begum and from the stalwart of the Patiala gharana, Ustad Ashiq Ali Khan. In 1947, the family migrated to Pakistan, and, says the veteran, she could not continue her training as she would have liked. Therefore, she took to the `light classical' genres like ghazal and thumri. Here she excelled and endeared herself to generations of music lovers in Pakistan, India and the world. She gave her first concert in 1950, and apart from a few years break caused by marriage and domesticity, has remained a beloved performer and recording artiste.
ENTHRALLING FANS Farida Khanum
Her rigorous training ensures that her renderings are always laced with classical features of raga and layakari. Known for unobtrusive use of accompanying instruments, she sings the ghazals of celebrated poets such as Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Dagh Dehlavi, Agha Hasher Kashmiri and Sufi Tabassum.
Recently she performed at the Heritage Festival in Kapurthala, Punjab, remarking that she was returning to the land of her childhood after 65 years.
ANJANA RAJAN
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